Quote:
Originally Posted by Huscurian
Mailanka... I never knew about your blog until I checked your thread. Most particularly this one.
I am trying to convert SW capital ships/starfighters/freighters/transports into Spaceships format just for fun and kicks. Your blog sounded like I shouldn't create this since the ideas behind it is copyrighted. For one, I don't plan on winning any Ennie awards. I don't plan on selling the materials. In fact, I plan on contributing to something.
There's a setting I want to convert to GURPS: Deathstalker series by Simon Green. By statting out the setting, its TLs, the characters, ships, etc. and so on, I thought it'd be pretty cool to play a setting like it. I know the Deathstalker series is copyrighted but I can't resist a cool setting like that!
I also have a homebrew setting that I haven't gotten around to finish just yet but I do have a campaign in the works regarding that setting. |
I knew it would be a controversial post, which is not exactly putting your best foot forward, but allow me to make my case. I've actually been watching your posts already, and I'll actually probably reference them in later posts (though, it looks like my schedule means they'll be much later). In particular, I found your choice of TL, and how you changed it, interesting and worth commenting on.
Yes, I believe you're making a mistake by converting Star Wars. It's a fine mental exercise, but I've seen this cycle before: Your conversion will be imperfect. People will disagree with how you model tie fighters. They already do. You'll have to revisit them, and then other people will disagree. You'll never make the perfect tie-fighter. You'll work and work on your setting, and you'll never get it right, and then you'll quit. At least, that's how it worked for me.
And there's already a tie-fighter in GURPS. It's called the Typhoon-Class Deep Space Fighter, and it's in SS 4. Now, it's not actually a tie-fighter, but it's pretty close and it fulfills a similar role. If you just took that one and, perhaps modified it, you'd have a pretty good stand in. The setting work you've done has likely taken far longer than just accepting the Typhoon-fighter, which means you'll take longer before your campaign hits the table.
If you set aside the need to
convert Star Wars and, instead, drew inspiration from Star Wars
for your own setting, then the fact that people disagree with your vision of a tie fighter is irrelevant, because it's not a tie-fighter, it's a Type-X Space Superiority Fighter, or whatever. Or you could just grab the "imperfect" typhoon space fighter and
play now.
Creation is empowering, because what you create is your own. Conversion is disempowering, because you are slaved to someone else's vision. Disney can now say that you have to stop your conversion, or that your conversion is wrong, or it could make a license agreement with SJGames to produce an official GURPS Star Wars that would invalidate all of your work. But none of this can happen with your own material.
I'm not the boss of you, of course. I'm just one guy. I'm not going to bust down your door and take your GURPS license from you. I wouldn't even turn my nose up at you if you invited me to join your finished GURPS Star Wars campaign. I'm making a suggestion. I'm pointing out the problems inherent in the conversion process and suggesting you try to create instead.
I understand the desire to convert. I used to convert myself. But everything that's fun about conversion exists in creation, and creation has none of the headaches that conversion has.
You have a specific vision of Star Wars, a
good vision. Put your own stamp on that vision, take control of it, and go your own way. That's what I'm saying.